The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, will make a trip to Italy in the last week of May, which includes a meeting at the Vatican with Pope Leo XIV fourteen days before the Pontiff’s visit to Spain, according to Agencia Efe and confirmed to La Vanguardia at Moncloa.
Government sources have confirmed that the meeting between the Pope and Pedro Sánchez will take place on May 27, and it will in any case be the first between them since the beginning of Robert Prevost’s pontificate, who from June 6 to 12 will make the first visit to Spain by a pope in almost fifteen years and has planned a series of events in Madrid, Barcelona, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, and Santa Cruz de Tenerife. The Government sent a letter to the Vatican shortly after the designation of Leo XIV as successor to Pope Francis, requesting an audience with Sánchez and inviting him to visit Spain, a meeting and visit that will now be finalized.
After the election of the new Pope was announced, Sánchez congratulated the entire Catholic Church and expressed hope that it would help strengthen dialogue and the defense of human rights in a world that, he said, needs hope and unity.
The head of the Government did not attend the mass marking the start of his pontificate, in which the Kings were present, but shortly afterward both held a telephone conversation in which, according to the Holy See, they discussed the migration crisis and the need to build bridges to resolve conflicts in the world.
For his part, the President of the Government highlighted the shared commitment of Spain and the Vatican to continue collaborating in the pursuit of peace and human dignity, as well as defending rights in the fight against climate change and inequalities.
Read more Sorry, I made a mistake. It won’t happen again
The May 27 meeting will be the third time Sánchez visits the Vatican since he took office in 2018, having done so twice during the papacy of Jorge Mario Bergoglio. The first was on October 24, 2020, during the coronavirus pandemic, where this issue, as well as relations between Spain and the Vatican and matters such as migration and education, were discussed between Sánchez—who was accompanied by his wife, Begoña Gómez—and the Pope.
Four years later, on October 11, 2024, Bergoglio again received Sánchez and they analyzed, among other issues, the situation in the Middle East and the migration crisis that was particularly affecting the Canary Islands. In that meeting, Sánchez officially invited the Pope to visit this community after Francisco had expressed his desire to travel there to be close to its people and leaders amid that crisis.
That visit did not materialize, but Leo XIV has resumed his predecessor’s plans and included the Canary Islands in the agenda of his trip to Spain. During that trip, the Pope and Sánchez are expected to have another meeting, specifically on June 8 at the Apostolic Nunciature and shortly before the Pontiff moves to the Congress of Deputies, which for the first time in its history will receive a visit from a pope.
However, on Sánchez’s new trip to Rome, a meeting with the President of Italy, Giorgia Meloni, is not planned, according to Government sources, as it is not customary when the agenda includes an appointment with the Pope.
